Cypress

...Apart from his time living with Gauguin, which ended tragically in the so-called "Van Gogh's Ear-Cutting Incident," his time in Arles was very fruitful for Van Gogh. In his paintings of this period, such as "Sunflowers," "Wheat Fields," and "Cypresses," he used dazzling, voluminous colors and undulating brushstrokes to bring out the primordial energy of nature, and in "Café at Night" (1888), he used strong contrasts to expose the madness of the human existence that hangs out in the café. Van Gogh himself was prone to insanity, and in May 1889 he was committed to the psychiatric hospital in Saint-Remy. ...

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Cypress" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…いわゆる〈ゴッホの耳切り事件〉という悲劇的な結末をみたゴーギャンとの共同生活を別にすれば，アルル時代はゴッホにとって実り豊かなものであった。この時期の《ひまわり》《麦畑》《糸杉》などでは，ぎらぎらした量感ある色彩とうねるような筆触によって，原初的ともいうべき自然のエネルギーを画面に噴出させ，また《夜のカフェ》(1888)では，強烈なコントラストによって，カフェにたむろする人間存在の狂気すらあばきだした。ゴッホ自身狂気と無縁でなく，89年5月サン･レミの精神病院に収容された。…

※「《糸杉》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報